JetBlue to increase Boston flights by 30 percent

NEW YORK 
JetBlue said Thursday it will boost its service from Boston Logan by 30 percent by next summer, as bigger carriers pull back and competition from rival Southwest heats up.

JetBlue, based in Forest Hills, N.Y., plans to offer up to 78 daily flights from Boston to 33 destinations.

That includes two more flights to Chicago and Raleigh Durham, N.C., for a total of three daily flights each. JetBlue will also add flights from Boston to San Francisco, San Diego, Washington and spots in the Caribbean.

JetBlue currently serves more cities out of Boston than any other airline.

On Wednesday, US Airways said it would reshuffle routes, including reducing Boston flights from its current 80 per day. That includes trimming flying from Boston to the Caribbean to just one or two flights a day starting in May, down from five per day. US Airways, based in Tempe, Ariz., will also put a smaller plane on its Boston-LaGuardia shuttle because the 124-seat plane on that route now has been running less than half full.

Southwest Airlines, based in Dallas, started flying out of Logan in August. Earlier this month Southwest said it would add two more nonstops from there to Baltimore next spring. Lead scheduler Bill Owen said Southwest will also increase Saturday flights to and from vacation destinations in the spring, aiming for leisure travelers.

Vacationers are core to JetBlue's business, which flies to a number of spots in Florida and the Caribbean. Leisure travel has remained fairly strong in recent months, as fare sales lured more customers.